Yugi Mutoh was sitting on the roof of the Kame Game Shop, his home for all of his life, smiling as he looked across the setting sun of Domino City. He had his back to the side of the building, just smiling. Horus popped up right next to Yugi and chuckled. "Hey, Yugi, whatcha doing?"
"Just thinking is all, Horus." Yugi replied, Horus blinking. "About what"
"All kinds of stuff. The one thing that strikes to me most is something my grandpa told me and Taro when we were done with his training us in Duel Monsters. To be a true champion, you can't be afraid of losing..."
"Only then can true strength be born." Yugi and Taro said in unison, as Taro stepped outside and smiled. "Why're you out here on the roof by yourself, Yuge"
"I was getting some air, Taro." Yugi smiled. "I'm surprised you remember what Grandpa told us that day."
"Hey, of course I'm gonna remember!" Taro punched Yugi in the arm playfully. "Grandpa did kinda drill it into us, and that's why I've always been like that! I mean, you always told me that games should be fun. That's what I've believed why playing games against you when we were kids... and so pretty much, that's my personality! Hey, ya know one thing I remember...?"
"What?" Yugi blinked, looking over at Taro.
Taro snickered. "Remember when we were kids and I put wasabi in Grandpa's toothpaste"
"Ugh! Don't remind me!"
A few years ago, when Yugi was 8 and Taro was 7, the two was in the bathroom of the living quarters of the Kame Game Shop when Taro and his mom, Asako, came to Domino City for a visit. Taro snickered as he opened the container of toothpaste labeled "Solomon Mutoh". He then placed down a small jar of wasabi, the green spicy material typical in Japanese cuisine through sushi. Taking a small dab, Taro snickered, sliding it in, as he then began to shake up the container slowly.
"Should we be doing this, Taro? What if we get caught!?" Yugi replied.
Taro smiled and placed the toothpaste down, stepping out. "Yuge, we ain't going to get caught! Trust me on this! Besides, it'll be funny to see Grampa react"
"I guess..." Yugi then cried out, as Taro dragged him off. Solomon saw the boys and chuckled. "Hello, boys."
"Hey, Grampa!" Both Mutoh boys said at the same time, as Solomon walked into the bathroom, Taro covering his mouth to control his urge to laugh as Yugi groaned, thinking to himself. 'Sorry about this, Grampa...'
Solomon took his toothbrush carefully, then took his container of toothpaste, squeezing some onto his toothbrush's bristles, unaware of what would happen next. Solomon began to brush his teeth, soon his eyes widening as he screamed at the top of his lungs, as Taro began to laugh his head off, Yugi sighing softly.
In the present time, Taro began to laugh hard, resting his back on the roof. "Now that we're older, you gotta admit that was funny, Yugi! Just hearing Grandpa scream like that was worth it!! And besides, what good is life without a little humor here and there"
Hearing that, Yugi tried to stop himself from laughing, but stifled his laugh, as Taro smiled. "See what I mean! Look at you, Yuge! Hey... what about you? Do you have any big memories of all you like or just remember most of all, Yugi?"
"Yeah, I do." Yugi smiled. "It was when I first met T? and we became friends. OK, we were in elementary school, right? I remember us both being 7, way before I had the Millennium Puzzle from Grandpa..."
A year earlier than the events Taro had remembered, Yugi was sitting in class during a break, playing with a Rubik's Cube, tongue sticking out as he began to twist and turn the pieces. He had usually brought a plethora of games to school with him since he was really shy. He looked over from his desk, seeing a much younger T?, back when they were both the same height, before Yugi was "stuck" so to speak for a time before his growth spurt brought them both back to 5 foot 5. He got up, grabbed his backpack and began to walk over to her.
"Hi!" Yugi smiled. T? blinked as she looked over at Yugi. "Uh, hi"
"I've seen you in class before... T?, right? I'm Yugi." Yugi smiled, placing his hand on his chest.
T? blinked and smiled. "I've seen you in class before too. People talk about how you're the game master or something like that... always bringing in puzzles and games and such."
"Yeah! I love games! Guess it comes from my grandpa running a game shop and my dad teaching me all sorts of games." Yugi chuckled. He then reached into his backpack and pulled out a small handheld game with an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen, smiling. "Here, try this one and see what you think."
T? blinked when she took the handheld game from Yugi, listening as Yugi began to show her what to do. "...And then you use this button to jump! Go ahead, give it a try!"
T? nodded after listening to Yugi's instructions, beginning to play, smiling as she got a feel for the game, then cried out when she lost a life. "Ack! I can't believe it! I lost! OK, here we go again!" Playing once more, T? began to laugh, enjoying herself, Yugi smiling with joy, glad to hear her laughter as she then cried out, groaning. "Stupid game!" Raising her hands up, T? then banged the game onto the desk, cracking it.
Yugi saw this, but just laughed a bit. T? frowned and sighed. "Sorry, Yugi... I didn't mean to bust your game"
"No worries, T?! I got a good idea though. Tomorrow I'll bring something for ya. Promise!" Yugi smiled, as T? still felt bad.
The next day, Yugi smiled, walking over to T?. "Morning, T"
"Hey, Yugi. Listen, sorry I broke your game again... you must hate me"
"No way! In fact... I brought you an easier one. We'll work up to the harder ones over time." Yugi smiled, pulling out another handheld game. T? blushed slightly. "Y-Yugi"
"C'mon! How about I show you how to play!?" Yugi smiled. T? nodded, the blush still being on her cheeks. "OK!"
"And that's how T? and I began to be friends, Taro. I showed her how to play all kinds of games over time... and she and I have been friends for a long time now." Yugi smiled. "In fact to be honest, 'tween you and me, I like her a lot." Yugi smiled.
"We talked about this before, Yuge!" Taro replied, now standing on his hands for some reason, both now in Yugi's room. "You didn't wanna say a thing 'cause of her liking Atem, but I told her ya liked her like that when you Dueled Mary! She was surprised! I mean, I thought she'd always known."
"I don't know if she did, Taro." Yugi sat down. "And why are you standing on your hands"
"'Cause I wanna. 'Sides, this gets the blood flowing to the brain so you can think better. Ya know, man, I've wondered how you got a goofy friend like Joey!"
"Well, I saved him and Tristan." Yugi smiled, sitting cross-legged on his bed. "See, this guy, Demetrius Ushio, was pummeling them 'cause he was 'protecting' me from them, and he wanted 200,000 yen as payment for his so-called services..."
Yugi was remembering it. Back sometime ago, when he was about 15 or so. Sometime before he completed the Millennium Puzzle, met Atem, and the leg of his journey to help Atem began... "See, Joey had bullied me a bit before we were friends, taking part of the Millennium Puzzle and tossing it into the school's pool... so Ushio made an offer to me... his services for 200,000 yen..."
Thinking back on it, Yugi began to remember how Tristan and Joey looked... as well as Ushio's face, since it was the day his dream of true friends came true.
"I already told you, Yugi... you hired me as your bodyguard." Ushio said to Yugi, smirking. His uniform had a yellow armband on it, which read "Student Council" on it. Ushio then pointed to Joey and Tristan, who were bruised and battered. "But I did use some restraint on the guys who were cruel to you."
Soon enough, Yugi stood in front of Joey and Tristan, arms extended outward. "Stop it"
"What's this? You're standing up for them, Yugi? You freak. They picked on you. Now's your chance for revenge. Punch them, kick them, do whatever you want to them!"
Yugi then shouted at Ushio. "There's no way I'd do that to my friends!"
"What a nice little guy... Now you say they're your friends..." Soon after that, Ushio began to pummel onto Yugi, as present day Yugi continued to speak. "After that, Joey had found the piece of the Millennium Puzzle he'd thrown into the pool. We met up again sometime after I completed it... and he told me that he wanted to have a treasure, like I saw the Millennium Puzzle. I asked if I could see it, but Joey told me I couldn't. He then said to me, his treasure's something you can show but can't see. He then said it's friendship."
Taro snickered and said "Man, that sounds kinda corny in some ways"
"Yeah, but it is a nice riddle sometimes." Yugi smiled. Taro continued to walk on his hands.
"Something else I always remember is stuff like you learning to play chess from Uncle Yuu, Yugi! All in all, that must have been cool!"
"Yeah." Yugi nodded. "Dad always told me that in chess, a queen can be toppled by a pawn if done right. He meant that an underdog can beat a champion. And to be honest, Taro, that's what I am."
"No way, Yugi! You told me in the Ceremonial Battle you took out all 3 God Cards!! So don't say you're an underdog!"
"Taro, for the most part, I was a bit scared, but like usual, Atem had to help me get my courage back. But for the most part, he didn't seem like he was enjoying the Duel. I saw the surprise on his face when I smiled after he destroyed my Stronghold. I was happy he came at me with his all. The thing is, that's how odd I am. I've always loved games, even for all the seriousness behind my getting involved with Duel Monsters." Yugi smiled. "Now that much of that stress is out the window, I can just be who I was before... and just have fun playing Duel Monsters without worrying about winning and losing... even if I do miss Atem.."
"Hey..." Taro soon flipped down to his feet, shaking his head a bit. "What was the deal with this Doma thing?"
"Doma? Oh, yeah, that! Well, Taro, Doma was an organization started to guide human history down the path humanity should take, giving a push here and there, guiding it by unjust means. Their agenda awhile back was through their leader, an Atlantaen named Dartz."
"Wait! You mean THE Atlantis?" Taro blinked. "Kinda like how the Field Card of the same name aka A Legendary Ocean is? That's just un-flippin'-believable." Taro sat down on his futon, groaning.
"It is all true! Doma used this Field Magic Card called the Seal of Orichalcos, Taro! It tapped into the darkness of one's mind and heart, making all of their Monsters Dark Attribute, and giving them 500+ ATK! Plus the user of the Seal of Orichalcos could use their Magic/Trap Zone for Monster Cards, with the opponent only able to attack the back row if the front row was taken out." Yugi replied, looking down.
"Sounds like it was a powerful card! Why would Industrial Illusions make such a card though"
"They didn't though. Doma had them only. And there was a price. The loser of the Duel when the Seal is played would lose their soul." Yugi added.
"...You know more about that. You told me you had your soul sealed... so what happened?" Taro added. "And why so glum, chum?"
"Well... you remember Atem, right? He played the Seal of Orichalcos once... we Dueled against a member of Doma named Raphael and his Guardian Deck. Atem got desperate because we were losing... and..."
Yugi began to remember it, eyes closed, as he remembered Drum Rock, in the desert of California. How Atem was on one knee after Raphael had his Guardian Kay'est attack him directly. Soon, Atem had begun to look nervous when Raphael had told him that he couldn't prove he didn't have any darkness in his heart with the light in his heart, after Atem had claimed darkness never once resided in his heart.
He then played Coins from Heaven, drawing 5 new cards, clenching the green gem around his neck as he looked very frustrated, some sweat beading down his face.
"I have this card now... if I play it, Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight's ATK will change and Crystal Seal will be destroyed... it's the only way I can reverse this situation!"
Slowly, Atem, or Mou Hitori No Yugi, the other Yugi, reached for the Seal of Orichalcos, pulling it into mid-air, eyes closed, teeth gritted as he then heard Yugi said "Don't do it, Other Me"
"Partner...!" Atem cried out.
"Don't play that card, please!"
"But...!"
"He's waiting for us to play that card!!" Yugi cried out, transparent, but clenching Atem's arm with his own arms to stop him from playing the Seal of Orichalcos.
"But if we don't play this card, we're going to lose the Duel! Partner, this is MY fight! My sense of justice and faith are on the line!" Atem then yanked his arm away from Yugi as he looked on sadly, speaking gently. "Other me..."
"Now I activate... this card from my hand!" Atem cried out as he pulled his arm back, his Duel Disk's Field Magic Card slot opening as he cried out. "The Seal of Orichalcos!" After that, a bright green light encircled Atem's body, as he cried out once more, the light surrounding him, forming a circle with an oddly shaped star in the center at his feet, the light expanding all over the rock. As it came near the transparent Yugi, he disappeared, quickly letting out a cry of panic.
"But... what happened next..." Present day Yugi began to say. "Was painful. When Atem used the Seal of Orichalcos, Taro, all I could do was watch... he began to use a cruel tactic of Catapult Turtle recklessly. Even I wouldn't have used my Monsters so recklessly to Catapult Turtle... only more strategically... but he began to become desperate to win! In the end, that desperation proved fatal when Raphael summoned Guardian Eatos and defeat him... after that, I managed to get out for a time, pushing him out of the Seal so he wouldn't lose his soul. I told him I still believed in him before I disappeared... and then, darkness."
Taro sat down and exhaled. "Dude... that's heavy..."
"Mmm-hmm. That is one of my most painful memories... another being during Duelist Kingdom... that was one of the first times myself and Atem had clashed at something. We were Dueling against Kaiba, right?"
"OK." Taro nodded. "But something happened, didn't it?"
"Yeah. Kaiba had nothing more to lose. He took 5 steps back and stood on the edge of the castle. He said to the other me that if he won the Duel, he'd kill himself. In the end, Atem wanted to attack, but T? called out for me, the 'ordinary' Yugi as she said, at the time. I stopped Atem, but we lost our chance at the time to enter Pegasus Castle."
"You made the right decision, Yugi. I mean, even if you lost a chance to get into the castle at the time, saving Kaiba's life was more important. Heck, from what you told me about some of this stuff, I'd say your kind heart's your big strength!"
Yugi smiled. "A lot of people say that"
"Lemme guess, T? is one of 'em?"
Yugi blushed when Taro had said that and said "TARO!! Well, what about you and Melody, man? How do you feel for her?"
"I like her a lot! In fact, when I'm around her, Yugi, it feels a lot like love, you know?"
"Love, huh? I'm surprised you can feel so confident about that, Taro, as well as not being the least bit nervous about how you feel!" Yugi blinked in surprise.
Leaning back, his hands behind his head, Taro smiled. "I'm used to being true to my feelings, Yugi. If I can at least stay true to myself, that's a good thing. Though... I am glad I got friends here. Back in Tokyo, I do remember how alone I felt... like an outsider..."
Taro closed his eyes, remembering how he watched others in class back in Tokyo, feeling left out, beginning to look at his Duel Monsters cards, speaking to Yugi in the present. "Even if I was alone, I really wasn't, Yugi. I had my Duel Monsters cards to keep my company, and my mom was there too as well as my dad... but ya know what happened to my dad, right?"
"How can I forget what happeend to Uncle Yukito, Taro? He died in that car crash..." Yugi frowned.
Taro nodded, arms now on his knees, eyes closed. "He died saving me from getting killed, Yuge. I sometimes blame myself for what happened to him. That's why I develed more and more into Duel Monsters... and not just 'cause Grandpa taught me how to play, man. No crap, I just felt I could escape into my game so I could deal with the pain. But that pain of bein' alone escaped when I came here... and I met your friends and Melody when I came here, and I felt something in me break, that feeling of loneliness after my dad's death go away..."
Yugi smiled, then patted Taro's shoulder. "You're never alone, Taro. Don't forget that, man"
"I won't." Taro stood up and smiled. "So, besides the incidents when you two clash, how was Atem?"
"A good friend. A very good friend indeed, Taro." Yugi smiled. "But all in all, I sometimes felt... I dunno... like everyone forgot about me when he was around, since the two of us were almost the same... only that he was the somewhat stronger me. I sometimes wonder how he felt about me at first glance..."
" I dunno, since I never knew the guy, Yugi, so I can't answer that for ya. But I do knew you weren't weak from the get-go. I remember how you used to cheer me up when we were kids, especially after my dad died. That showed me you weren't a weakling at all. It just shows me you got the biggest heart of anyone I know."
Yugi blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his head, Taro grinning, then nudging his side, Taro stood up and said "C'mon, dude, let's go downstairs and see what we can do to pass the time!!"
"OK!" Yugi got up and both rushed right for the door, heading out to face the future, unknown what would be waiting them, but they would face it together.
-To Be Continued...-